Resistance
by Batfangirl7773
Summary: "You can lie and say that you're not afraid all you'd like, my dear," he drawled dangerously, "But in reality, we both know your terrified," he continued, moving his arm to latch around her waist, pulling her closer. "G-Get off me," Julie whimpered, trying to push him away. "Your resistance is becoming tiresome," he snapped, making Julie yelp in fear. "That will have to change."
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, so I've just recently watched ROTG and the fact that I've decided to write a fic for something so soon after becoming interested is pretty rare for me, so I hope this comes out alright.**

**IMPORTANT: Do keep in mind that this chapter is mostly focused on Julie's characterization, so there isn't much action. That'll start in chapter 2 which will be posted at the same time as chapter 1.**

**With that said, enjoy chapter 1!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Rise of the Guardians, I only own Julie and Kira. **

* * *

Chapter 1

Pitch Black sat in complete contempt in the middle of his lair, next to the newly illuminated globe.

After his nightmares had latched onto him and dragged him back underground, all he could remember were the countless hours he'd spent being alone, terrified (though he'd never admit it to anyone), and completely miserable, awaiting the next wave of terror that came from the shadows.

His nightmares had been utterly relentless, their thirst for pure and raw fear consuming their entire beings. With the loss of fear from the children, the only fear suitable enough to feed on came only from their master. And feed they did.

For months, he was forced to endure their tortures, their hunger for his fear never satisfied. For months he lay alone, trapped, unable to see and could barely move as he was constrained to relive the horrors of what happened after the Dark Ages, when he practically didn't exist.

And with those months spent in isolation, his hatred for The Guardians grew to become something almost inhuman.

As of now, he didn't want them to just disappear after the fear consumed their beloved children. That didn't mean anything to him anymore.

As of now, he wanted The Guardians _slaughtered._ He wanted to soak in their waves of unimaginable fright as the floors were painted red with the blood of hope and wonder. He wanted to hear their hoarse cries for mercy as he tortured them, making them feel _exactly_ as he had felt all those years ago. It wasn't enough to simply allow them to vanish anymore.

The revival of his anger had cursed the nightmares away, his last ounce of strength being to grab hold of the shadows and extract the fear they had taken from him. The fear was strong and powerful, allowing him the privilege to sink into the darkness that surrounded his lair and bast in the glory of the little strength that it gave him.

His own fear, however, wasn't nearly as strong as the raw obscenities brought by the shallow fears of a child.

To regain his strength, he would need nothing short of a pure and terror consumed host, most definitely a child, for their fears were the easiest to manipulate.

And lucky for him, he knew exactly the child that would serve as his personal host to hold the fear he was going to take.

His revenge on The Guardians would come soon enough, but first, he believed that someone else was worthy of his attention.

The Last Light. The small, wide eyed little boy who had refused to stop believing in The Guardians was to be dealt with first. And Pitch would make sure that his visits to the child were_ far_ from pleasant.

If the boy hadn't been afraid before, he most certainly would be now. The thought made Pitch flash a sharp smile into the darkness.

Little Jamie Bennett would be consumed by the fear. Pitch was certain of that.

* * *

Julie Jordan sighed in discomfort as she stood, frozen, on the snowy sidewalk in front of the overly packed coffee shop. She could feel her fingers becoming numb underneath her new blue mittens, and she found herself continuously bringing her hands to her neck, trying to keep them warm. She sniffled loudly, the freezing air not helping her runny nose as she wished that she would've packed more tissues in her purse.

_"God would it kill to be on time?"_ Julie grumbled in her head, checking her watch for what seemed like the thousandth time.

She'd only moved to Burgess two weeks ago to start her college education, and in that little time, she'd quickly realized that there was no way she would be able to pay the rent for her apartment by herself. With no job and no clue about the town she was residing in, she had no choice but to look for a roommate, which was the reason for her current predicament.

_"This Kira girl better have a good reason for being late,"_ She grouched, looking over her shoulder to stare longingly into the warmth of the coffee shop. She realized she could just walk though the door, but with her luck, she knew if she went inside, the girl would probably miss her and leave.

_"This would be so much easier if she would've at least told me what she looked like,"_ Julie sighed, letting herself be negative. For the past week Julie had been exchanging phone calls with a girl named Kira with whom she had met online. Apparently she had been living in Burgess for half a year and was now looking for a new roommate after a falling out with her last one.

With only a total of about 3 phone conversations, Julie had learned that Kira was studying to be a cosmetologist at a nearby school which she attended 4 times a week. She also had gotten a job at a diner down on _Maybelle street_ as a waitress, so she was able to pay the monthly rent along with anything else she needed to take care of herself, like food for her new kitten ShereKhan.

In all, this Kira girl seemed to be somewhat on track, so Julie had decided to call a meeting in person to finalize any decisions with the apartment, seeing as though she was in no place to be picky with her _countless_ choices of potential roommates. Julie's current exhaustion level also caused the need for someone else to be living with her.

Ever since she was 10 years old, Julie had been terrified of being left alone in the dark in the fear of what could be lurking there. After her father was sent to the emergency room during...the incident, she found that sleeping without someone watching over her was almost impossible. Owning an apartment on her own definitely had its perks, but it was also quite obvious that she hadn't been sleeping very well at all.

Julie shivered again before checking her watch. It was 4:32, a half hour past the time Kira had told Julie to meet her. With an angry scowl, Julie turned to start walking back in the direction of her apartment before she felt someone bump into her.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry!" A light voice chimed.

Julie quickly flipped her long, wavy brown hair out of her eyes to see the gorgeous blonde girl who'd crossed paths with her.

She could only gawk at the girl's appearance. She looked to be around 21, only 2 years older than Julie, with crystal blue eyes, perfect sun-kissed skin (even though it was the middle of winter), with a pair of heart shaped lips that adorned her doll like face. Upon standing so close, Julie could even smell the light hint of Chanel No. 5 the girl was obviously wearing.

"I-It's fine, it was my fault," Julie muttered, embarrassed, cursing her luck. The girl only shrugged.

"Forget it, it happens to me all the time. I'm Kira by the way," She smiled, sticking out a perfect manicured hand for a handshake. Julie felt her eyebrows jump.

"Oh really?! I'm Julie, I'm pretty sure we talked on the phone about the apartment...?" Julie said, gently shaking Kira's hand, afraid that if she shook to hard her delicate fingers would break.

"I thought your voice sounded familiar," Kira said knowingly. "Why don't we go inside and talk, it's freezing out here."

_"You don't say."_ Julie thought with a silent scoff, before turning to follow Kira into the coffee shop, but quickly stopped.

"Uh isn't it kinda crowded?" Julie asked uncomfortably. Kira only blinked prettily.

"Oh don't worry I'll get us a table," She said casually, grabbing Julie's hand and dragging her inside. She immediately felt as if all eyes were on her when she was pulled inside the shop among the many disgruntled customers who were stuck waiting in line. She felt herself wanting to shrink.

Julie had always been somewhat of a shy person, which was the reason why she had very few friends growing up. It's not as if she was incapable of having any social skills, in fact, she actually loved talking to those who would happily come and want to strike up a conversation with her.

Though in this day and age, however, unless she were to grow a few inches in her bust and behind, no one her age would openly give her the time of day for such things. Being an only child, she found that she was more comfortable talking with adults anyways.

"You know, we could just talk somewhere else, maybe-" Julie started before she was interrupted.

"Um hi excuse me?" She heard Kira suddenly ask a group of boys her age chatting loudly at a table. Upon seeing Kira, their chatting turned to silence, giving their full attention to the flawless girl in front of them.

"Do you think I could maybe have this table? There's nowhere to sit," Kira pouted, shyly ducking her head, allowing her soft blonde hair to fall slightly in her face.

"Y-Yeah sure," One of the boys gawked, eyes wide. Julie watched in amazement as Kira batted her eyelashes and gently kissed the boy on the cheek.

"That is _so_ sweet, thank you," Kira gushed, but Julie was pretty sure the boy didn't even hear her, for he was too shocked. Without another word from him or his friends, they quickly left the table, eyes wide and cheeks red.

"Oh my God! Dude she freaking kissed you!" Julie heard one of the boys exclaim a little too loudly as he and his friends left the coffee shop.

Kira didn't seem phased by any of this and happily plopped down into one of the empty seats. "You just gonna stand there?" She joked. Julie couldn't find the words to reply, so she simply sat down opposite of the beautiful girl.

In all, Julie felt nothing short of ridiculous sitting across from someone like Kira.

"So I'm pretty sure I've told you pretty much the basics about me and about the kind of money I'm bringing in. I know it's not a lot, but I'm sure we can both pay off the rent with both of our jobs," Kira started with a kind of "let's get down to business" tone.

Julie immediately felt her cheeks flush at Kira's mention of a job.

"I'm, uh, actually in between jobs right now..." Julie murmured, feeling even more ridiculous. She watched with worry as Kira's perfectly shaped eyebrows raised.

"Oh..." She said quietly.

"But!" Julie rushed before Kira could say anything. "I've posted an ad online to babysit and I also give piano lessons, so-"

"Whoa, hon, take it easy," Kira laughed, eyes sparkling. "I was just surprised is all. You look like the type of girl who would have all kinds of places begging her for work."

Julie felt her eyes soften at that, all disdain she held at Kira for being late, slowly melting away.

"You know, if you need a job, I could probably talk to my manager about a position for you at the diner if you want?" Kira continued. "Even if this roommates thing doesn't work out," She added after a moment.

Julie's smile spoke a thousand words as she nodded. Kira easily flashed a smile in return.

"So how about you huh? You're just starting college right?" Kira asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm majoring in music since I want to be a pianist. My dad's making me minor in criminal justice, though, since he'd rather see me spend my time trying to become a lawyer like my mom was," Julie explained, happy that she was feeling so comfortable with Kira. She was surprised to see Kira listening contently instead of checking her manicure.

"I feel for you about the whole 'My parents want me to be this' sort of thing. You see, my parents wanted me to be an engineer, but I'm a dud when it comes to math, so for me, it was out of the question" Kira laughed, making Julie smile in agreement. Math was never really her thing either.

"It took some convincing, but they finally agreed to pay for my schooling. Even though your parents may not be in favor of it, I say keep up with what you want to do. I, personally, think it's amazing you want to pursuit a career in music since I could never learn to play an instrument growing up no matter how hard I tried."

Julie felt her heart swell at Kira's thoughts on her career choice.

"Thanks," Julie mumbled shyly. Kira only nodded with enthusiasm, flipping her perfect hair out of her face.

"So are you interested in seeing the apartment before anything is decided for sure or...?" She asked, making Kira's eyes light up.

"You know, everything you told me about it over the phone is enough for me. I'm really in no place to be picky, so if you're cool with the whole thing so am I." Kira said.

Julie felt herself falter for a moment, her over thinking side of herself contemplating the outcomes of her decision, but she quickly pushed her wandering thoughts away.

"Yeah, it's fine with me," She smiled, making Kira squeal and nearly leap across the able to engulf Julie in a hug.

"I can already tell we're going to be really great friends!"

_"I really hope so,"_ Julie thought, returning the unexpected hug with a gentle enthusiasm.

* * *

Half an hour later, Julie waved goodbye to her new roommate after giving her the extra key to the apartment. They had scheduled a meeting with Julie's landlord for later that week to finalize the agreement in writing.

Julie hugged her white coat closer to her body as she stepped back out into the cold, sipping at her hot coffee. She smiled. Maybe now she could finally get some sleep!

With a final sigh Julie began the short trek back to her apartment before a sudden buzzing in her back pocket caught her attention. Half expecting it to be Kira, Julie answered her phone nonchalantly.

"Hey."

_"Oh, hello?"_ A woman's voice echoed through the receiving end of the line. Julie jumped, and looked at the caller ID. Unknown number.

"Hi..." Julie said again awkwardly.

_"Is this Julie Jordan?"_ Julie faltered, debating whether to say yes or not.

"Yes this is Julie," She finally decided.

_"Oh good, I was worried I had the wrong person for a moment,"_ The woman laughed._ "My name is Elizabeth Bennett, and I just saw your ad online for babysitting. I was wondering if maybe you were free to sit tonight? Our regular babysitter just canceled on us last minute...again."_

Julie felt her eyebrows jump in surprise. Sure she put the ad online, but she didn't think she'd actually have people calling her since she was so new to town. Maybe her unlucky streak was finally coming to an end!

"Of course, I'd be happy to sit for you," Julie smiled into her phone, suppressing a loud sniffle.

_"Great! I only have two kids so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. Do you think you could be here by 5:30? My address is 24 Strathmore Drive,"_ Mrs. Bennett said.

Julie checked her watch. It was already 5:16.

_"Yeah, if I run,"_ She thought sarcastically.

"Sure I'll be there by then," Julie nearly sighed into the phone, checking her snow boots to make sure her shoelaces were tied before she started running.

_"Great! Thank you very much Julie, I'll see you at 5:30,"_ Mrs. Bennett chatted. Julie only murmured a polite reply before hanging up the phone to look up directions on how to get to the Bennett's house.

"Well, money's money," Julie sighed to herself as she reluctantly threw away her half full coffee and began to run in the direction her phone was telling her to go.

She sure hoped that Mrs. Bennett was right about her kids not being a hassle. At the moment, she really couldn't afford any trouble.

* * *

**So that's chapter 1, probably a little boring, but at least you know a little bit about Julie now. If you still have questions, I can think of a few off the top of my head, they will most likely be explained in later chapters if I get that far.**

**IMPORTANT: Just to be clear, the story takes place in the winter, around 8 months after Pitch was defeated in case anyone was wondering.**

**Only a little Pitch action I know, but don't worry, there will be more of him very soon;) By the way, how did you like how he was portrayed? Too dark? Not dark enough? Let me know because I'm kinda flying blind on this one.**

**Chapter 2 is probably being published at this moment, so if you like, go ahead and push the next button and I'll see you in a sec:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Y'all! So if you've clicked the "Next" button, you're probably somewhat interested in this story.**

**I hope I'm able to correctly portray all of the ROTG characters, if I'm not, please say something now, that way I can change it. **

**So for now, please enjoy chapter 2, and I promise that it's not all idle chatting and characterization. Maybe a little at first, but near the end there may or may not be some Pitch action...you never know.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians. I only own Julie and Kira. **

* * *

Chapter 2

Julie panted as she stood, hunched over, in front of 24 Strathmore Drive. As of now, the small town of Burgess didn't really seem so small to Julie.

She had nearly ran 2 miles in under seventeen minutes, thanks to her years of being on cross country in high school, and had made it somewhat on time to the Bennett's house.

"God *huff* I sound *huff* like *huff* a fat ass," Julie wheezed, clutching her purse tightly as she reached for her phone to text Kira about why she wouldn't be returning to the apartment until later.

She then dabbed the sweat from her face, waited another minute to get her breathing under control, and walked up to the front door, calmly ringing the doorbell.

The door opened seconds after Julie had knocked on it, revealing a very lovely and also very frazzled looking woman who Julie assumed was Mrs. Bennett.

She was dressed in a very fancy black evening gown, adorned with tiny black beads, that made her body seem as if she had never been pregnant. Her brown hair was pulled back into an elegant bun, letting a few strands of hair fall delicately in her face. Her face was covered in a light layer of makeup, adorning her bright green eyes and full lips, making Julie hope that she would look as effortlessly beautiful after she had children.

"Hi, you must be Julie! Come in, you must be freezing," Mrs. Bennett ushered kindly. Julie gave a soft smile and stepped inside enjoying the warmth of the Bennett's home.

"I'm so sorry about calling you last minute, but Rodger and I didn't want to cancel our evening plans and I just saw your post online so-" Mrs. Bennett rambled, clearly feeling at fault about the whole situation. Julie only shook her head gently.

"Don't worry about it, I was actually happy to get your call," Julie offered, making the woman smile in relief.

"Alright, if your're sure it's alright then we're very thankful for you coming on such short notice," Mrs. Bennett smiled. Julie only politely nodded and proceeded to take off her coat and hang it on the coat hanger by the door, leaving her bag along with it.

Suddenly, Julie heard a violent thundering come from the upstairs only to hear them become louder as if getting closer.

"Oh shit, she got loose," Mrs. Bennett swore under her breath. "I promise she's friendly!"

Julie immediately turned her head and felt her inner child screech _"AHMYGAWD"_ as she saw the large dog that came barrelling towards the pair, coming right up to Julie and barking happily.

"Abby down!" Mrs. Bennett yelled, moving to push the dog away.

"Oh no it's ok!" Julie said quickly, moving to scratch the dog, Abby, behind the ears, making her tail wag excitedly. "I just love dogs!"

"Oh good," Mrs. Bennett exhaled, putting a hand to her chest. "Normally I would've told you beforehand on the phone, but I'm in a bit of a rush."

"Don't worry, it's no problem" Julie said, kneeling down to say hello to Abby. The big dog squirmed excitedly, giving Julie a sloppy kiss as she continued to scratch her ears, making Julie screech in surprise, only to laugh afterwards.

"So let me give you a run down of everything while my husband talks to the kids," Mrs. Bennett said in a bit of a rushed manner, ushering Julie to follow her further into the house. Julie nodded and smiled politely, patting her leg for Abby to follow, which the big dog gladly obliged to.

"Tonight my husband and I are going to see Swan Lake play in the city, so we won't be back until late. There's casserole in the fridge for dinner, but don't let my kids persuade you into letting them have any ice cream before they've eaten dinner, believe me, they'll try. Sophie, my daughter who's 4, needs to be in bed by 7:00, and Jamie, my son who's 10, needs to be in bed by 8:30. Other than that I'm sure you'll find something to entertain the kids fairly easily. They're both very...imaginative so to speak," Mrs. Bennett rambled quickly as she gathered her things.

"My phone number is on the kitchen counter as well as the neighbor's in case anything happens, though I doubt anything will," Mrs. Bennett finished, now standing at the door with Julie who had been intently listening to Mrs. Bennett's rules.

They were then quickly joined by Mr. Bennett, who was wearing an amazing brand of cologne, and he bid Julie a quick farewell, before leaving with Mrs. Bennett out the front door, making Julie the only adult in the suburban house.

"Well they were sure in a big hurry, huh," Julie said to Abby, who only wagged her tail in response. Rubbing her arms underneath her black long sleeved shirt, Julie's hazel eyes scanned the somewhat messy house for the stairs, assuming of course the kids she was supposed to be watching were on the second floor.

Upon heading for the stairs, Abby raced ahead of Julie, thundering up the steps and plopping down in front of one of the closed doors, looking back to see if she had followed her. Julie giggled softly and climbed the stairs, going over to the closed door of which Abby was guarding.

"Oh no! The evil pirate Flabby has kidnapped Princess Cottontail!" Julie heard a little boy's voice chime through the door, making her freeze.

"Uh oh! Bunny bunny, hop, hop, hop!" Came a little girl's voice from behind the door as well. Julie waited a moment before knocking, curious about what they were playing.

"Don't worry, Soph, Captain Jack will stop him!"

"Jack, Jack, Jack!"

"Ready the candy canes! We'll weigh down his ship with candy so it can't fly!"

"Ok!"

"Firing in 5...4...3...2...1! "BOOOM!"

"Candy cane, Candy cane!"

"Arg ye sea scoundrels! Get them Candy canes off me ship! The Princess Cottontail is mine, for I will take her magic carrots and use them to make my jellybeans grow! MUHAHAHA!

"Ha ha ha!"

Julie found herself laughing uncontrollably outside the pink painted door as she listen to the two children play...whatever they were playing inside the room. Deciding to meet them, Julie softly knocked three times at the door.

All shouts of playtime were quieted at the sound at the door, and Julie heard the boy's voice call, "Come in!"

Putting on a smile, Julie shyly entered the room, and giggled to herself at the sight of the two kids.

The boy, Jamie, was on top of the pink plush bedspread, bouncing slightly, a giant pirate ship in his left hand while he had a handful of candy canes in his right. He was already dressed in his power ranger pajamas, his big brown eyes full of wonder, making Julie's heart yearn for the days when she would carelessly play games with her father.

The little girl, Sophie, was sitting on the bed next to her brother, laughing, and staring up at him in awe as if he were the most captivating human being in the world. Her pretty blonde hair was very messy, most of it tangled in her face, covering up one of her bright green eyes that shared the same enthusiasm as her brother's did.

"I heard the excitement and thought I'd join in. I'm Julie by the way," Julie said, smiling sweetly at the two children.

Sophie shyly waved at her and hid behind Jamie, who was still jumping on the bed.

"Hi Julie! I'm Jamie and this is my sister Sophie. We were just playing pirates; you don't have to play with us if you don't want to. Usually our babysitter just goes on their phone so...," Jamie trailed off before shrugging, eager to keep playing, though Julie was surprised at his words.

_"How could a babysitter say no to playing with these kids?!" _She thought with bewilderment as she and Abby entered the pink room, which was obviously Sophie's.

"Well I'm not like most babysitters, in fact, I'd love to play pirates with you," Julie said sincerely, making both children's eyes light up in awe.

"Really?! Wait can we play hide and seek instead, we were gonna play that next anyways, right Soph?" Jamie said to his sister, who clapped her hands with joy.

"Hide! Hide! Hide!" She giggled, rushing out of the room to find a hiding place, Abby right on her heels, woofing all the way.

"You're it first Julie!" Jamie taunted playfully, jumping off the bed. Julie only gave the little boy an "Oh Yeah" look.

"Ok kiddo, but you'd better hurry, I count pretty fast," Julie sighed with a grin making Jamie laugh and sprint out of the room.

Julie hadn't even turned around before she heard the thundering of footsteps bound down the stairs, making Julie giggle.

It was then she realized how much easier it was to make friends with children then with adults. With adults, they judge you by your looks the moment they see you, but with a child, they only see you as someone new to play with.

_"I should've taken up babysitting a long time ago,"_ Julie thought as she began to count in her head.

"27...28...29...30! Ready or not, here I come!" Julie called loudly, her voice echoing throughout the house.

Without even bothering to check upstairs, Julie descended the stairs to find the kids. Without even having to look, Julie tromped into the living room to see a pair of dainty feet sticking out from behind the couch along with a furry tail.

"Shhh hide, Abby, hide!" She heard Sophie whisper from behind the couch, making Julie choke down a laugh.

"Hmmm I wonder where Sophie is?" Julie said to herself, dumbly scratching her head. "Did she vanish into thin air?"

Julie couldn't contain her laugh as she saw Abby's tail wag at the sound of her voice.

"Gotcha!" She shouted, lunging forwards to tickle the feet sticking out from behind the couch, making Sophie squeal.

"Found you," Julie sang, making Sophie giggle, before she moved to hoist the little girl up in her arms.

"How about we find your big brother now, hm?" Julie asked the little girl.

"Find, find, find!" Sophie clapped in agreement. After leaving the living room, Julie peeked her head into the next room and gasped.

Inside the room was a beautiful, shiny black piano with perfectly cleaned keys. Julie felt her musical side of herself immediately want to sit down at the beautiful instrument and try out the keys, but with Sophie in her arms, she decided to wait until later to play it.

"Hmm where could Jamie be?" Julie wondered aloud making Sophie giggle again.

"Basement!" She cried out, making Julie's eyebrows raise.

"Basement huh?" Julie repeated with a sly grin, following Sophie's pointed finger towards the opened window through the front of the house.

Julie then went for the front door, opening it to step outside and follow the trail of smushed grass that led away from the window.

"This is a pretty good hiding place for a kid, geez," Julie laughed with Sophie as she followed the trail to what she assumed was the basement door. She opened the door a crack and saw that all of the lights were off inside, which made Julie freeze.

She had no idea what was down there or even if Jamie was in fact hiding in there. For all she knew, Sophie could have just wanted to go to the basement without knowing if there was...something down there or not. Julie felt the fear beginning to bubble in her gut as she cracked the basement door open further, flinching at the creaking noise it made.

She wished she would've brought Abby outside...

She was just about to close the door out of fear when she heard a "You so cheated Sophie!" Come from the darkness inside the basement, making Julie jump before calming down upon realizing it was just Jamie.

"Jamie come up out of there!" Julie called nervously, her heart still beating wildly.

"Alright," Jamie mumbled. "But Sophie still cheated." Julie let out a sigh of relief as she saw Jamie's emerge from the dark and quickly ushered him out, shutting the basement door closed behind him.

"Why don't we get something to eat and get out of the cold," Julie suggested, wanted to get inside to the lights. Jamie and Sophie only cheered loudly, oblivious to Julie's eminent fear, something she was very grateful for.

* * *

After both children were fed and washed up for bed, it was nearly 7:15, which Julie remembered was bedtime for Sophie.

At first the little girl was reluctant, but Jamie promised that Julie would tell them both a story if she got into her pajamas which made the little girl squeal with joy and rush into bed.

Sophie sat up eagerly in her pink princess bed, dressed up in a pair of pretty pink pajamas, awaiting for Julie to tell her a story. Julie sat in a wooden rocking chair next to Sophie's bed while Jamie sat at the edge of the bed, wanting to hear the story as well.

"Alright," Julie said, getting settled with a mug of freshly brewed coffee. "What story should I tell?"

"The Guardians!" Sophie exclaimed happily, making Julie's eyebrows furrow. She'd never heard of any story called 'The Guardians' before.

"Um I don't think I know that one, how about-" Julie started before Jamie interrupted.

"Don't worry I know the one she wants to hear. How about I tell it tonight so you can learn it, and then next time you can tell it?" Jamie suggested, making Julie's heart melt.

Jamie was such a good big brother.

"Alright, start away then," Julie grinned, snuggling into her chair. Jamie sat up on the bed, clearing his throat.

"Once upon a time, there were four Guardians who's purpose was to protect the dreams of children. There names were The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, and The Sandman," Jamie started, making Julie suddenly stop in her wandering thoughts to become interested in Jamie's story.

"Bunny, hop, hop, hop!" Sophie giggled with glee.

"One day, though, Santa was in his workshop when the boogieman appeared. His name was Pitch Black, and he created nightmares to scare the children into believing in him to give him power. Since Pitch was an enemy of all of the Guardians, Santa called all of them together to fight Pitch, also inviting Jack Frost to help them."

"They fought many times, but Pitch was very strong and scary, and started making the children not believe in the Guardians anymore, until there was only..." Jamie paused. "...only one child left who believed. Pitch tried to get rid of the last child, so that the Guardians would have no more power, but with the help of his friends, they were able to defeat him and weren't afraid anymore. Jack Frost and the rest of the Guardians then celebrated with the children until they flew away on Santa's sleigh, promising to return to visit one day. The end."

Julie blinked several times after Jamie finished his story, charmed at how his imagination had put his little sister right to sleep.

With a silent gesture, Julie motioned for Jamie to follow her out of the room with Abby trotting at their heels and closed the door softly behind them.

"That was quite the story, Jamie," Julie complimented after they were down the hall a ways. "How did you come up with that?"

Jamie only looked at her curiously, as if Julie should already know the answer to her question.

"Because it's real. It actually happened," Jamie said, with all seriousness laced in his words. Julie didn't know what to say.

"You believe me, right Julie? My mom says that there isn't such thing as Jack Frost or Pitch Black, but I _know_ there is. I've seen them," Jamie told her with pleading eyes that just begged her to believe him.

Julie faltered. Of course she didn't believe in such things! She had outgrown those beliefs a long time ago, but did she have the heart to ruin Jamie's child-like innocence?

"Of course I believe you," Julie said softly after a moment, making the boy smile a gap toothed grin.

"I knew you would! Maybe one day when Jack visits me again, you can come too, and we can all have a snowball fight!" Jamie exclaimed excitedly. Julie only nodded, ashamed for lying.

"I'd like that very much," She said politely. "Now why don't you go and brush your teeth, it's almost your bedtime."

"Awe" Jamie whined childishly, before tromping down the hall to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Julie was about to follow when she heard a dark chuckle emerge from behind her.

Julie felt a sudden chill run down the length of her spine as her sixth sense went into overdrive. Everything within her was telling her to turn around, but Julie's fear prevented her from moving. She spotted the hall light just a few steps out of her reach against the wall. Julie took a shaky breath.

"Just turn on the light and turn around," She told herself before she heard the chuckle again, this time closer, as if someone were...right behind her.

Julie let out a soft whimper in terror as her entire body began to shake.

**"Lying to a child,"** A deep, masculine voice suddenly drawled from behind her, making Julie's body seize up, the hairs on her arms standing upright.

**"Naughty girl,"** The voice taunted, making Julie yelp aloud in fright. With a sudden wave of adrenaline, Julie lunged for the light switch turning on the hall light and whipping her head around to see what was behind her only to find that...there was nothing there.

"Julie are you ok?!" Jamie suddenly called, worried for his new friend, as he stepped out into the hall to see Julie cowering next to the light switch.

Julie could feel the tears beginning to brim in the corners of her eyes, but she forced herself not to cry.

"I-I just thought I h-heard something..." Julie mumbled, still trying to recover. She tried to put on a brave face for the little boy, not wanting to worry him, but Jamie was already full aware of how scared she was.

"It wasn't Pitch was it?!" He asked, almost urgently, signs of worry forming in his brown eyes.

"No!" Julie said a little too quickly. She took a deep breath and tried again. "N-No I don't think so Jamie. It was just my imagination."

Jamie didn't look too convinced. "Well if you see him, don't be afraid. That's how he gets more powerful," the little boy advised the frightened girl.

"Alright Jamie, I'll remember that," Julie told the boy as sincerely as she could. Jamie only nodded before returning to the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth.

15 minutes later, Julie had tucked Jamie into bed, again having to reassure the boy that she really hadn't heard anything. Julie could tell the boy wanted to believe her, so Julie simply smiled again and whispered soothing things to him before turning on the nightlight and leaving the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Julie wasn't the type of person so simply brush off something un-explainable. She _knew_ she had heard something. A man's voice, coming right from behind her.

Julie didn't feel safe. Not one bit, but she knew she couldn't call the police because she hadn't actually seen anything. They'd think she was crazy or something.

With a shaky sigh Julie turned to the big dog who cocked its head at her, confused as to why Julie wasn't petting her.

"Come on Abby," Julie called for the dog to follow her down the stairs to the front door where her purse was. She smiled halfheartedly as she found that there was pieces of sheet music shoved alongside the usual crap she kept in her bag. She literally found it everywhere.

After removing the sheet music, Julie dug through her purse to retrieve her taser which she kept with her at all times.

With the weapon in her fist, Julie went to the living room couch, called for Abby to sit on her lap, and cautiously began to study the chords read on the paper.

She hoped the Bennett's would come home soon.

* * *

Julie wasn't sure how long she had been studying her sheet music for class, maybe for an hour and a half or so, running the rhythm and melody through her head as she sight read.

She suddenly jumped upon hearing Abby growl from the comfortable position on Julie's lap. Julie froze, her hand clutching her taser, before she heard a loud shout come from upstairs.

Abby began barking loudly as she charged up the stairs towards Jamie's room, Julie right behind her.

"Julie!" Julie heard Jamie cry out in fright as he raced out of his bedroom and into her waiting arms. Julie was shaking almost as hard as Jamie was as Abby burst into Jamie's room, barking and growling at the shadows ferociously.

"What happened!" Julie exclaimed to the scared little boy. He was nearly in tears.

"I saw Pitch!" Jamie basically wailed into Julie, making Julie sigh in relief.

_"It was just a nightmare,"_ She thought to herself, trying to calm down her heart rate.

"Shhh," Julie soothed the little boy, gently stroking his brown hair. "It's ok, he can't get you now."

"Yes he can!" Jamie cried into Julie's shirt."He said he was going to enjoy watching me suffer!"

Julie's eyes widened at that. A threat like that seemed serious, even if it was in a dream.

"Come on," Julie said, taking Jamie's hand and calling for Abby who was still growling at the walls. After several calls from Julie, Abby reluctantly began backing out of the room, but not before snapping her jaws in warning to whatever she had been growling at.

Abby's behavior didn't help Julie's unease at all, and she quickly ran down the hall to Sophie's room, throwing the door open as quietly as she could to see the little girl sound asleep, but sprawled out across the ground.

Had Julie been less frightened, she would've laughed, but she simply let go of Jamie's hand, gently pulled the sleeping girl into her arms and put her back onto the bed.

"Abby here," Julie whispered, patting Sophie's comforter. Abby immediately jumped onto the bed and put her giant face on Sophie's ankle, letting Julie know she was on her guard.

"Good girl, you keep her safe, ok?" Julie told the dog, Abby only woofed softly in response. She then quietly left the room, keeping Jamie close to her, as she left the door open a crack, in case anything were to happen.

"Julie, I'm scared," Jamie whispered to her, clutching her shirt as she led the small boy down the stairs, turning on all of the lights on the way down. Julie gently shushed him as she led him inside the room which held the piano.

"He told me to tell you something too," Jamie suddenly said, making Julie's blood run cold. She quickly knelt down to be eye level with the boy.

"Oh? And what is that?" Julie murmured, her uneasiness becoming more and more apparent.

"He told me to tell you that...he thinks your fear is almost as lovely as you are," Jamie whispered, making Julie's face drain of any color it might've held. She suddenly felt chills run up and down her arms, but she tried to ignore it. She had to be brave for Jamie; she had to make him feel safe after his nightmare.

"I need to tell Jack," Jamie said, almost to himself, but Julie was quick to shush him again.

"I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, Jamie," Julie said with utmost sincerity. "You are my responsibility, and I'm going to protect you to the best of my ability. As long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen to you."

"R-Really?" Jamie sniffled. Julie nodded harshly. She desperately wanted to tell the boy that if was only a dream, but she felt that if she did, it would start a disagreement that wouldn't benefit anyone.

"Of course," She breathed. "Now, how about you sit on this couch and try to fall asleep while I play a song for you, ok?"

"Ok," Jamie whispered, hopping onto the couch next to the piano and resting his head onto one of the pillows. Julie sighed deeply as she tried to calm her shaking hands as she sat at the beautiful instrument, her fingertips barely brushing against the keys.

She tried to recollect something soft and soothing from her memory to help Jamie sleep, and immediately thought of Clair de Lune.

Within moments, Julie had begun to play the sweet melody, letting all thoughts of fear and danger seep into the perfect white keys as her only focus was to play the song as perfectly as she could remember it. The muscle memory quickly returned to her, and she found herself playing the soft tune of Clair de Lune without even thinking.

This is was exactly why Julie wanted to be a pianist. It took away all thoughts of stress or fear from her mind and allowed her to simply be at a state of peace, something that was rare for her on a daily basis.

She didn't know how long she had been playing for, or how soon Jamie had fallen asleep, but Julie was quickly snapped out of her musical trance as she heard and soft whisper emerge from behind her.

_"Julie..."_ The voice whispered kindly, though it didn't stop Julie from jumping clear out of her skin.

"Whoa! Take it easy hon," the voice said again softly. Julie sighed upon recognizing Mrs. Bennett's voice, and quickly stopped playing to turn and face the couple.

"I'm so sorry about all of this, but Jamie had a nightmare, and I just thought this would help him and-" Julie started almost frantically.

"Hey, it's ok," Mr. Bennett told her gently. "We're very grateful you took the time out of your evening to take care of our son."

"Yes, that was very sweet of you to do this," Mrs. Bennett whispered as to not wake the sleeping Jamie.

"Will you take him upstairs, Rodger?" Mrs. Bennett asked her husband gently, who merely nodded in response, cradling his son in his arms and carrying him back to his room.

"So you said he had a nightmare?" Mrs. Bennett asked. Julie nodded, but faltered in her answer, afraid of worrying Mrs. Bennett.

"Yeah, he said he saw the Boogieman in his sleep and felt safer if he stayed downstairs with me," Julie said carefully. Mrs. Bennett paid no mind to Julie's careful wording and simply nodded.

"Ever since Easter both he and Sophie have been going on and on about 'The Boogieman.' I'm really not surprised he had a nightmare, though it troubles me that it doesn't," Mrs. Bennett said quietly, while Julie only nodded.

"Here," Mrs. Bennett said after a moment of silence, while Julie looked up to see Mrs. Bennett hand her a $100 bill. "I suppose you'd like to be heading home again for doing this, and I hope you don't mind if I call you to sit again sometime."

"Your very welcome. Your children are wonderful," Julie said sincerely as Mrs. Bennett walked her to the door.

Julie then grabbed her coat and bag, and proceeded to leave through the front door before Mrs. Bennett called, "And Julie?"

Julie quickly turned, around to look at Mrs. Bennett, who was smiling warily with fatigue.

"You play beautifully by the way," She said, making Julie blush.

"Thank you," She murmured quietly. "You have a good night."

And with that, Julie left the Bennett house into the cold of night, now beginning to dread the walk home in the dark.

"God I really need to get a car," Julie whimpered in her head as she briskly walked in the direction of her apartment.

Little did she know, however, that she had brought something with her from the Bennett house.

Something was following her.

* * *

**Ok so almost 5,000 words here in this chapterXD I hope it was alright. There will be more Pitch action in nearly every chapter from now on since the plot line has finally taken place.**

**Let me know what you guys thought about the whole thing. I'm curious to know whether or not you guys like it or not. If all goes well chapter 3 should be up within the next couple of days. **

**See you guys soon!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Wow I really wasn't expecting such positive feedback so quickly after publishing this! Thanks to all of those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited, it really means a lot to me:)**

**I know it was been a while for an update. but I was seriously debating whether or not to take this story down or not. Sometimes when I write something and I look back on it, I end up hating whatever I did. I probably would've deleted it, but I felt bad knowing that there was a few of you who wanted to see more, so I've decided to continue. I'm actually very glad I did:)**

**So without further a due here's chapter 3. MUCH more Pitch action in this;)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, I only own Julie and Kira.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Pitch chuckled darkly to himself as he easily sank into the trembling shadow of the young woman. Though he didn't have full knowledge of what his plan was at this moment, he did know that he was immensely enjoying the waves of fear the girl was giving off.

His first intentions had been to capture the Bennett boy, however, upon colliding with the girl, he found that this was an even better option. Whatever _this_ was.

Though she was not of any past importance to him, there was no denying that she was lovely, with long brown hair and striking eyes; however, Pitch observed many lovely girls in this day and age, certainly lovelier than this one, though they always made Pitch want to bash his head in upon hearing their egotistic conversations.

It was when he had collided with her in the hallway of the Bennett household that had sparked his attention.

Even now just following her down the dark and deserted streets he could literally smell the amount of terror she was doused in.

It was extremely rare to find someone of her age covered in the scent of fear. Hell, it was rare for him to even be able to _tell_ an adult's greatest fear let alone smell it off them, for adults were equipped with the tools for burying. They would bury their greatest fears so deep within them as to where there were safely hidden and locked away from not only Pitch, but from everyone.

Adults weren't so easily manipulated into revealing their fears to him; however, the lovely creature before him certainly wasn't doing a very good job of concealing what was scaring her, which, in itself, was interesting to say the least.

Stepping closer, Pitch gently tried tapping into the girl's mind, and was taken aback at how easily it opened up to him.

It was as if her innermost fears were desperate to be released by the way that they launched themselves at Pitch, practically begging to be exposed.

"Nyctophobia," Pitch hummed with a dark chuckle. "Afraid of the dark are we, my lovely?"

That much was apparent by the way she was desperately clutching the taser in her purse and skeptically looking over her shoulder ever so often, but when he had spoken, Pitch was sadistically delighted to hear her let out a shout and whirl around.

Pitch knew she couldn't see him, but she could_ hear_ him. That much was enough.

He could tell the girl was completely perplexed as she pointed her taser threateningly at the shadows behind her, but froze when realizing there was nothing there. Well, nothing there that she could _see._

As the girl, now a trembling mess, clumsily continued to walk along the eerily darkened streets, Pitch could feel himself becoming stronger with every passing moment. He quickly found that the fear surrounding him could be consumed almost the same as if he had decided to bottom an entire bottle of alcohol. It slid over his skin like a velvet blanket, leaving him warm and power hungry.

It was dangerously satisfying, but at the same time he only craved more.

_"More,"_ Pitch's mind screamed at him. More! More! More! How in the hell was he going to be able to stop? It was just too easy!

It was then that Pitch realized that he didn't have to stop.

He didn't have to do anything. He was free. And with his newly found freedom he would take all that he wanted from the fearful host in front of him and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do about it. It would prove to be immensely useful to him in the near future.

It would be her own little punishment for letting out such tantalizing emotions.

_"Yes,"_ Pitch chuckled sadistically in his head as he stalked his newly found prey. _"First the girl."_

First the girl. Then Jamie. Then The Guardians.

* * *

Julie was an absolute wreck.

She could feel her palms sweating profusely under her mittens as her senses were raging havoc over her body.

Something was following her.

She didn't know how, and she didn't know why, but she knew that something had somehow taken shelter in the darkness of her meek and frail shadow. And that terrified her more than anything.

Taking a short and shaky breath, Julie looked over her shoulder for the fifth time in the past minute...only to see nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Logic would tell her that she was completely alone, but Julie couldn't stop the chills that ran down her spine as she slowed to a stop.

"I-I know your're behind me," Julie murmured, biting back a whimper. A soft wind suddenly caught hold of her hair, elegantly weaving itself through it, though Julie froze upon seeing that the loose fabric of her coat hadn't moved an inch.

**"Do you?"** Purred a deep voice from behind her.

It was laced with something that paralyzed Julie to the bone. Something malevolent. Something evil. Something that wanted to hurt her.

With a loud scream, Julie took off like a shot, tears freely cascading down her cheeks seeing as though she had no one to be brave for. She had to get away!

Julie choked down another scream as she continued to sprint down the empty streets, realizing that she recognized the voice. It was a perfect match to the one she heard in the hallway of Jamie and Sophie's house.

She frantically looked over her shoulder to see if anything was behind her, but again, saw nothing. She instantly stopped in her running, struggling to catch her breath as she took in her surroundings. She had made it to the coffee shop, her apartment wasn't far.

Julie was then interrupted by a loud whistle followed by loud laughter coming from across the street.

"Hey! Where you running sweetheart?" A drunken voice cat called. Julie whipped her head around, eyes wild, as she saw a small group of older men chuckling and clapping their hands in her direction, trying to get her attention.

At first Julie was repulsed, but a cliche thought was forming in her mind as she heard the laughter suddenly stop.

"C'mere," One of them beckoned, flashing a sick grin. "We'll show you a good time."

Rape.

That was the only thing running through Julie's head as she saw one of the men slowly begin to make his way over to her. Her feelings of fear went into near overdrive as she whipped her taser from her purse, pointing it threateningly in front of her.

The man approaching her froze, but that didn't stop the tears from continuing to brim in Julie's frightened hazel eyes.

"Don't come any closer," Julie warned, choking down a whimper, the hand holding her taser shaking violently. The man didn't move, only flashing her a terrible grin as his friends stepped off the curb to join him.

**"You're completely helpless,"** the voice suddenly appeared behind her, making Julie scream loudly in fright, whirling around so fast she was surprised she didn't get a whiplash. Without thinking, Julie blindly fired her taser at the air. There was nothing behind her.

A dark chuckle emerged just behind her ear as the cold voice sliced into her mind like a knife.

"**So _vulnerable._"** It was mocking her.

With a sob, Julie tripped over her own feet in an attempt to run, and ended up falling face first into the ground. It was right. She really was helpless.

She began to cry pathetically as she awaited the disgusting hands to come down upon her body, only to freeze after a moment of realizing that nothing was happening.

Slowly, Julie lifted her head, and was shocked to find that there was nothing around her as she laid in the middle of the street.

There was no one with her.

She was completely alone.

_"...Wh-wha?!"_ Julie thought dumbly in her head, her mind reeling at the scene before her.

There was no way in hell she had imagined all of that. The men had been standing before her clear as day. They were going to attack her!

_"Am I going crazy?!"_ Julie cried in her head, the very thought making her want to burst into tears once again, only, she somehow found the strength to force herself to stand on wobbly legs, forgetting the taser on the ground. She had to get home. She wasn't safe out here.

It seemed to take forever, but Julie finally managed to practically drag herself through the front door of her apartment without any other incident on the streets.

The second Julie locked the door behind her, she lunged for the light switches, turning on almost every light in her small living space. She knew she would regret it later upon seeing her electric bill, but Julie was too frightened to care about the money.

Shrugging off her freezing coat and hanging it on the coat hanger along with her bag, Julie sniffled loudly, trying to warm up. She decided to ditch her boots and socks as well, for her toes were nearly numb.

"K-Kira?" Julie called, shivering, hoping to God her new roommate would be home, only to have her heart sink upon hearing only silence.

"Shit," She cursed as she moved to turn on the television, the deafening silence unnerving her even more than she already was.

Curling into a ball in the corner of the couch, Julie's thoughts flashed back to what she had seen.

She couldn't have simply imagined what had happened, could she?! She remembered how the fear had built in her chest upon seeing the group of men stalk towards her. The sweat on her body was proof of that, but what she couldn't prove was how they had seemed to vanish into thin air.

The only thing Julie could think of was if she had somehow hallucinated the whole thing.

That somehow her paranoia had created one of her biggest fears to appear just in front of her.

Julie knew that she was somewhat of a paranoid person, though, she hardly thought that it was at the extreme where it was cause her to _imagine_ things that weren't really there.

As she relived the events of the night, still slightly trembling, she recalled the voice that she had heard in her ear.

That she _knew_ had actually happened.

Pulling aside her laptop Julie typed _"hearing voices when alone"_ in the search bar.

She wasn't surprised to see that all of the links given were either ones informative on psychological issues, or ones offering and suggesting help to mentally confused people.

Julie let out an exhausted groan. She refused to believe that this was something related to some psychological trauma. She was perfectly sane with no family history of mental illness. It just wasn't practical.

Burying her head in her hands Julie suddenly recalled something Jamie had said to her in the hallway the first time she had heard the voice.

_'It wasn't Pitch was it?!'_

Furrowing her brows Julie quickly typed _"Pitch Black"_ in the search bar.

After sifting through descriptions of the color Pitch Black and an apparent movie titled said name, Julie stumbled across a blog near the bottom of the page. Out of curiosity she clicked the link.

Several pages of school information, random thought posts, and chat rooms instantly came into view on the screen. Julie blinked, blinded by how the whole blog was decorated in a neon purple color, and proceeded to browse through the past entries of the 23 year old blogger, Amber O'Flarity.

As she skimmed the top entries, Julie found that Amber hadn't posted in over 2 years, and when she had been posting, the entries were weeks apart.

Curious, Julie looked over the titles of each entry and found one titled _"Pitch Black,"_ though, she felt that she would most likely be confused upon reading a single entry without knowing anything beforehand; therefore, she clicked the last entry of around four titled _"Something weird…"_ and began to read.

_April 9th, 2010_

_Hey guys. I know I usually don't write entries like this, but I felt that this was something that I should address with everyone. _

_So you know my little 8 year old sister Allison right? I know I talk about her a lot, but something weird's been going on with her._

_After our parent's passing, I was granted legal guardianship over her seeing as though at that time I was over 18. Things have been great so far, but now I'm not so sure._

_Every night Allison comes barreling into my room, screaming at the top of her lungs, claiming to have seen 'The Boogieman' standing by her bed. The first few times I was scared out of my mind, and I even called the police seeing as though I thought there was actually someone in my house._

_However, every time I'd go and check her room, there was nothing there. I tried to tell Allison this, but she just said that 'He didn't like adults' and would disappear whenever he saw me. The routine is getting old fast, and though I love and worry about my little sister, I can't help but wonder if this is just a scam for her to try and stay up past her bedtime._

_Thoughts anyone?_

_-Amber_

Julie paused in her reading to recall something that Mrs. Bennett had told her.

_'Ever since Easter both Jamie and Sophie have been going on and on about 'The Boogieman.'_

With wide eyes, Julie slammed the laptop shut. This was getting too creepy for her liking. Surely it was just a coincidence that both Mrs. Bennett and Amber O'Flarity had recalled a 'Boogieman' scaring their children, right?

With a shaky sigh, Julie decided to banish her fears from her mind until the morning.

Seeing as though she hadn't heard anything from "the voice" upon entering her apartment, she eased herself by reassuring that whatever had been following her was gone now, and that she would investigate the situation further when it was light outside and she wasn't alone. She took several deep breaths and found herself able to slightly calm her raging emotions and rise from her position on the couch to change her wet clothes.

Suddenly, however, Julie felt a scream rip across her vocal chords as she felt something furry brush against her left foot, making her fall to the ground.

"AHHGHH!" Julie shouted again, both from the pain and the surprise.

She could feel the fear coming back to her, the dark ideas slowly creeping into her mind before a soft "Meow" stopped her from beginning to hyperventilate.

Peering over her body, Julie felt her eyes widen at the little orange and black kitten that was curiously studying her foot as if wondering why the hell it had nearly fallen on top of him.

"You little turd!" Julie cried out in anger at the fuzzy kitten. "You almost killed me!"

Julie watched angrily as the cat tilted it's head as if saying _"Who ME?_"

If Julie's heart hadn't been beating so fast, she would've thought that was the most adorable thing in the world.

Grumbling to herself, Julie ignored the meowing kitten and walked into her room where she spied a note lying on her perfectly made bed. Snatching it up, she began to read.

_Hey girl,_

_I figured that it would most likely be easier for the both of us if I waited until tomorrow to start moving in._

_I did, however, drop off my kitty, Sherekhan, since he'd been stuck in his cage all day and I couldn't let him out until my ex roommate had left our apartment. I hope you don't mind._

_He'll probably be asleep by the time you're reading this, but just in case, watch your step. I've nearly killed myself by tripping over him._

_Call you later!_

_XOXO-Kira_

Almost tripped over him? You don't say!

Julie rolled her eyes and discarded the note back on her bed, trying not to get mad at Kira.

A few minutes later, Julie had changed into her favorite pair of warm flannel pajamas and had curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, Sherekhan curled peacefully on her lap.

She looked down at the kitten with disdain and begrudgingly began to scratch him gently behind the ears, emitting a loud purring sound from the pile of fluff.

"Your're lucky your adorable," Julie muttered into her popcorn as she continued to pet the cat. Taking a peek at the clock, she saw that it was nearly 2 am, and she raised her eyebrows despite herself.

Seeing as though it was already late, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping tonight, that much was obvious, so she decided to flip to the movie channel. She was very happy to find that The Lord of the Rings would be airing all night.

Hearing a small Beep! come from the kitchen, Julie quickly pushed the sleepy kitten off of her lap and scurried to get her freshly made coffee.

Julie was a coffee fanatic. If she could substitute coffee for water as a necessity for living, she would; though, she basically did that already anyways. She'd always take crap from her parents when growing up back in Rhode Island about how having too much caffeine would stunt her growth, but Julie had decided that she would happily be Hobbit height forever if it meant she could keep drinking her coffee.

Smirking at the memory, Julie poured the liquid gold into her favorite blue mug and proceeded to add her cream and sugar before returning to the couch.

However, Julie felt herself stiffen as she felt something cold drift around her body.

It felt as if there were suddenly invisible hands tracing patterns on her arms and collarbone, causing her to shiver. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as she stood completely still, chills running through her body causing her muscles to spasm. She tried to take a deep breath, but it came out more as a gasp as she felt something nip at her ear.

Her blood had seemingly turned to ice.

**"Shouldn't you be in bed?"** The voice growled dangerously in her ear.

She felt the mug slip from her hands, shattering on the hardwood floor.

It had followed her home.

* * *

**Well that's chapter 3...I hope it wasn't too disappointing of a chapter to come back with. School gets out for me in 2 weeks, so at that time it will be a lot easier for me to write more. **

**I'll try to have the next chapter up by that time if all goes well and I don't get writers block.**

**So recalling the chapter what did you guys think? Did you figure out what had happened to Julie and why the men weren't there? If no, not to worry, it will all be explained at some point. **

**Please let me know what you think and if there's anything you would like to see in upcoming chapters. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! So this is up a little later than expected, sorry about that, but I want you all to know that I'm not giving up on this story! **

**It has also been brought to my attention that the pairing hasn't formally been listed so I guess I'll just do this here. This is a Pitch/OC fanfic, but there will be some hinting at a Jack/OC later in the story as well...whether it will go anywhere or not is still undecided.**

**Oh and to the guest reviewer who made a guess about what happened last chapter with Julie...you were right, so yay for you!:D Also a huge thanks to all of my reviewers, followers, and favoriters, you guys are awesome!**

**IMPORTANT: So in Chapter 1 there was a small comment made about how Julie had been afraid of the dark ever since "the incident." Well this chapter explains what happened there so I thought I'd refresh your memory about that before continuing.**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoy an extra long Chapter 4...though it's a little dark. Consider that a warning.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Rise of the Guardians. I only own Julia and Kira and anyone else you don't recognize.**

* * *

Chapter 4

_Ten-year old Juliette Jordan raced around her trashed kitchen in a frenzy. Her daddy would be home soon and she still hadn't finished making his birthday cake! She remembered him telling her Nanna that chocolate cake was his favorite thing to eat...or, then again, maybe it was HER favorite thing to eat. Either way, she was gonna make this the best birthday present ever, and she was gonna do it all by herself like a big girl._

_However, no one had told her that baking was HARD, though she would never let anyone know that she thought so. _

_"It has'd to be perfect!" She said, determined, to herself as she struggled to carry the 4 eggs the cookbook told her to use from the refrigerator to the messy counter. She suddenly sneezed loudly, her eyes involuntarily closing, as the excess flour on her face tickled her nose._

_When she opened her eyes, however, she found that she had only made it to the counter with 1 of the 4 eggs, the others cracked on the floor around her feet. Oops. _

_With a loud huff, Juliette forgot about the other eggs and decided to only use the 1 in her hand. Dropping it into the mixing bowl, being careful not to crack the shell, the little girl read aloud the instructions to herself. _

_"...B...Beat eggs in one at a time until mix...mixture is smooth."_

_Juliette smiled upon reading the directions all by herself and grabbed a big wooden spoon and began to mix the batter together. She froze upon hearing the egg crack, but simply shrugged it off. _

_The broken eggs on the floor squished in between Juliette's toes as she quickly sneaked two fingers into the batter. Upon sticking her fingers into her mouth, however, she recoiled at the taste._

_"EWW!" She yelled, her outburst echoing through the empty house, while she licked the sleeve of her shirt, trying to get rid of the horrible flavor on her tongue._

_"Maybe it tastes better after it bakes..." Juliette thought aloud, though she always remembered the batter tasting good when her father had baked cakes before...oh well. _

_Deciding that she was done mixing, she wanted to see the batter bake, so she grabbed the glass bowl and attempted to pour the batter into the tin baking sheet. _

_She jumped upon hearing her father's car pull into the driveway, and she tried to pour the mixture into the baking sheet faster, only for it to slip from her hands and fall to the floor, breaking upon contact._

_She wanted to cry. She had tried so hard to make the cake and now the batter was on the ground! She felt terrible. Now she had nothing to give her father for his birthday._

_"Hey Button!" She heard her father call once he had entered the house. She could hear him humming a song from his favorite band, Led Zeppelin, and banging his hands on the wall, pretending that it was a drum, as he shuffled into the house. __Juliette quickly ran to meet him so that he wouldn't see the mess she had made in the kitchen._

_"Hi Daddy," She said, running into the living room to give him a hug._

_Upon seeing her father Juliette felt all her sadness disappear. Her father worked at the bank almost every day, ALL day, so that he was only home in the evenings. Most of the time, her Nanna was there to watch her when she came home from school, but sometimes since she was so old, she forgot about her...like today. __Juliette never minded when her Nanna stayed home though, because she would just wait for her father to come home._

_To Juliette, her father was the nicest person in the whole wide world. He had big hazel eyes, like hers, and soft blonde hair. He had a lot of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, but he always told her that the more wrinkles a person had, the happier they were. Her father had LOTS of wrinkles. He was also very tall, which made it extra fun when he swung her up in the air and carried her home from the pool when she got tired._

_She loved her father more than anyone else she had ever met. _

_Just before her batter covered hands and arms were able to wrap around her father's legs, he stopped her._

_"Whoa there, sticky fingers," He warned playfully. Juliette only laughed and quickly pushed her hand into his work shirt, making a perfect brown-batter hand print on the white canvas, and dashed away._

_"Hey!" Her father exclaimed, jumping backwards into the air before shrugging off his jacket. "Alright, you asked for it!"_

_Juliette squealed as her father began to chase her around the living room, several droplets of cake mixture going all over the carpet._

_"Oh God, not all over the floor! Juliette stop it!" Her father cried between bursts of chuckles as he struggled to catch his daughter._

_"Not until you tag me!" She taunted, jumping over the couch, making her father shout again at the mess she was making. Juliette quickly got tired of running, and her father swooped her up in her arms upon catching her, tickling her stomach._

_"Alright you," He play growled. "The jig is up, why are you such a mess?" _

_Juliette stopped laughing as her father put her back down on the ground, patiently awaiting an answer._

_"Well..." Juliette started guiltily, "I was trying to make a birthday cake, but when I got the flour it spilled all over the counter and it got on my hands and then I wiped my face...then I dropped some of the eggs and batter onto the floor 'cuz the bowl was really heavy..."_

_Her father was silent for a minute, his eyes wide._

_"I'm really sorry," She added quickly, ducking her head. Her father still didn't speak._

_"Are you mad at me?" Juliette asked with sad eyes. _

_"Well yes," Her father said with a sigh, "You know you're not supposed to use the kitchen without me or Nanna with you. You could've gotten hurt."_

_Juliette ducked her head further upon being scolded. "I know but-"_

_"No 'buts,'" Her father said firmly. "You know better than that."_

_Juliette was too guilty to find the words to utter another apology. _

_"I'll expect you to clean up whatever mess you made in the kitchen, alright?" He said, gently lifting her chin to have her eyes meet with his own._

_"Alright," She said, inwardly groaning, before moving to trudge towards the kitchen, but her father's hand stopped her._

_"Hang on, Button," He said, the trace of anger in his voice slowly disappearing. "I wanted to show you this."_

_Curious, Juliette looked up at her father to see him retrieve a movie case from the pocket of his jacket that was still on the ground. Smiling softly, he offered it to her. _

_"Carousel," She read aloud upon seeing the title of the film. _

_"That's right. I want you to watch this with me tonight after you're done cleaning the kitchen," He said._

_"Why?" Juliette asked, still studying the cover. It was a picture of a lady riding a carousel pony._

_"Well this was your mother's favorite musical," He answered softly, Juliette's head snapping upwards at the mention of her mother._

_Juliette's mother had disappeared almost 3 years ago, and though she was sure her father knew the reason why, he never told her. She vaguely remembered her mother, the small details having been forgotten, but she remembered her mother loving Broadway musicals, often singing songs from them around the house. _

_"I know she would've wanted the both of us to eventually see this, so I thought we should. You were named after the main character you know," Her father said with a somewhat forced smile._

_Juliette's eyes widened at the mention of her name. __"Really?"_

_"Yep. Her name is Julie Jordan," He said._

_"I wanna watch it!" Juliette said excitedly, making her father chuckle lightly._

_"Well, first you have to finish cleaning the kitchen remember?" Her father reminded her with a raised brow. She sighed before answering. _

_"I remember," She said, disappointed. Her father shook his head. __"Go on. I'll be in to help you in a minute." Juliette smiled at that and walked into the kitchen._

_She had just washed the excess batter from her hands and arms before the doorbell rang._

_"Who's that?" Juliette asked her father has he passed the kitchen to answer the door._

_"Don't know, Button. Why don't we go and see?" He smiled, beckoning her playfully to follow him._

_Following closely behind her father, Juliette watched as he opened the door after a furious knocking appeared from the other side of it. Julie curiously peeked out from behind her father to see a group of men standing on her front porch. _

_Men with long steel sticks in their hands.** Knives.**_

_"Hello Richard," The man at the front of the group coldly greeted her father. _

_His eyes were a malicious, icy blue, while his sly grin seemed to chill Juliette's blood in her veins as he intricately twirled the elegant weapon between his fingers._

_Juliette wondered why her father didn't respond to the stranger._

_"Lovely evening," The stranger drawled, before moving his eyes away from her father to study the little form hiding behind him. _

_"Well hello, Angel Face," The man sneered at Juliette, making the little girl cringe, before her father stepped fully in front of her, blocking her from view._

_"What do you want, Vince?" Juliette heard her father gruffly say. She peeked around his leg to watch the cold man chuckle darkly, the group behind him following in pursuit of their leader._

_"You know what we want," He said, his voice darkening. She could feel her father's body begin to tremble, which made the little girl feel even more uneasy._

_"Daddy-" Juliette started quietly, before she was instantly silenced. _

_"Go back inside, Juliette," Her father told her without turning around. She felt his hands begin to usher her away from the door, but before she could retreat further into the living room, the cold man had knelt down on one knee and had forcefully grabbed her little hand, making her whimper slightly at how tightly he was holding it._

_"No," the man nearly whined, an evil smirk still appearing on his pale face. "Stay here with us, Angel."_

_"Get you're hands off my daughter you sick fu-" Her father growled instantly, before Juliette felt the cold man let go of her hand, only to see a flash of silver appear just above her father's throat. Fear jolted through the little girl at an unimaginable speed._

_"Careful." The cold man sneered. Her father didn't move a muscle. "Enough small talk. Give us the combination, and we'll leave."_

_"You know I can't do-" Her father started shakily, his hands moving to shield the little girl behind him, before he was again interrupted._

_"Maybe I wasn't making this clear enough. Give us the combination, and we won't hurt your daughter."_

_She felt her father's body violently tense next to her, before he suddenly shoved the cold man away from him and slammed the door shut in his face, quickly locking it. Juliette let out a shriek as she heard the men outside the door begin to pound on the wooden surface, yelling loudly._

_"GIVE US THE FUCKING COMBINATION, JORDAN!"_

_Juliette felt her father instantly swing her into his arms and carry her up the stairs as she began to cry._

_"What's going on?!" She nearly sobbed as her father carried her into her room. "Why do they have knives?! Are they going to hurt us?!"_

_"Shhh," Her father quickly hushed her as she felt him take her protectively in her arms. "Daddy's not gonna let them hurt you alright?" Her father said almost frantically._

_"B-Bu-" Juliette tried, tears streaming down her rosy cheeks before her father shushed her again._

_"I promise everything is gonna be ok," He soothed, brushing away her tears, but the constant pounding, shouting, and thudding coming from downstairs made it difficult for little Juliette to believe him._

_"But what about YOU?!" Julie wailed, her little hands clutching onto her father's white shirt._

_"I'm gonna be ok as long as you do everything I tell you to do alright?" He was nearly shouting now. "Alright?!"_

_"Alright!" Juliette bawled, tightening her grip on her father's shirt even more as she heard an even louder 'THUD' come from the front door as it was pulled off of its hinges._

_"Ok, I want you to get in your toy box and hide. DO NOT come out for ANYTHING, not until I come and get you, do you understand?"_

_Juliette continued to sob as her father carried her to the old, hand crafted box that he had made for her._

_"It's dark-" She whimpered, and her father lowered her as gently as he could into the wooden box; she could feel her old toys prodding uncomfortably in her back._

_"Don't make a sound. I'll be back, I promise," Her father said. She felt his trembling lips kiss her forehead before she was engulfed into darkness._

_She could feel the hot tears still continuing to spill from her eyes as she struggled to be quiet, like her father had said. The darkness surrounding her seemed to eat away at her shivering form, blinding her, and scaring her even more than she already was. _

_However, she was determined to stay silent. As long as she did as her father told her, everything would be alright. That's what he said. _

_As she laid alone in the dark and enclosed space, several questions flew through Juliette's head as she continued to weep. Where was her father? Was he ok? Was he ever coming back for her? Were the men at the door here to hurt them? _

_What was going on?!_

_As she swam in her thoughts, her delicate fingers brushed up against something soft beneath her fingertips. She instinctively pulled at the soft mound of fluff until it was free, and hugged it to her chest, offering her some sort comfort._

_As time passed, Juliette could hear several shouts coming from within her house, though they were too muffled for her to hear._

_As even more time passed Juliette was beginning to find it difficult to breathe in the tiny encasement. Every time she took a breath, she could feel the dust in her toy box fill in her lungs. _

_Desperate, she tried to lift the lid of the toy box to try and breath in fresh air, only to find that the lid was stuck. Something had been placed on top of the box to keep it shut! _

_She was trapped!_

_Despite her father's orders, Juliette loud out a strangled yelp, and began to kick at the lid, frantically trying to get out, before she heard the door of her room creak open._

_She immediately stopped in her desperate kicking, and laid still in the wooden box, clutching the stuffed animal close to her heart._

_She could feel her heart beating violently in her chest as she listened to the slow, taunting footsteps that began their trek through her room._

_"Julieeeeette" An eerie voice sang in the darkness, making her hazel eyes grow wide with fear. _

_"I know you're in here," The voice said again. That was most definitely NOT her father. She could feel herself holding her breath as the footsteps continued to step around her room. _

_Suddenly, a loud creak startled her into moving slightly in her hiding place, a long chuckle following shortly after._

_She could hear something scrape against the lid of the toy box, as if something was being dragged off of it, before it was torn of completely making Juliette yelp in surprise._

_"Found you." The voice cooed gruffly, as Juliette stared fearfully at the stranger peering at her from above._

_His eyes were just as evil as the cold man's._

_She screamed loudly as she felt a pair of hands latch onto her little waist and pull her from the box, causing her to drop whatever she had been desperately clutching on to. _

_"Stop it!" Juliette cried, fresh tears cascading from her eyes as she felt herself being carried from her room. __The man ignored her, and simply held onto her tighter as she flailed in his grasp, trying to escape. _

_After being carried down the stairs, Juliette was carelessly dropped to the floor in her living room where she saw her father lying on the ground, groaning in pain from the several cuts and bruises forming on his body._

_"Boss," The man who had been holding her barked towards the leader standing in the center of the room, wiping excess blood from his hands._

_She trembled violently on the carpet as she tried crawling towards her injured father before a second pair of hands latched themselves to her waist and hauled her into a standing position._

_"Juliette!" She heard her father cry painfully, before one of the men standing in the room kicked him in the ribs, causing Juliette to wail. _

_"Good work," The man, easily identified as the cold man talking at the door, who was now holding her, told his colleague. _

_"Such a pretty face," She heard him purr in her ear, making her shudder and try to wrench herself free. She could feel his bony fingers grab onto her long brown hair and yank at the roots, letting loose a loud shriek from the little girl._

_"Don't touch her!" Juliette heard her father demand desperately, holding his stomach in pain as he continued to writhe on the carpet._

_"Now," The cold man calmly drawled, ignoring her father's pleas. "Let's try this again."_

_Juliette felt her eyes grow wide as she felt the cool tip of a knife slowly brush against the soft skin of her neck as the cold man spoke._

_"Tell me the combination, or I'll slit her pretty little throat..."_

**_His voice. _**_His voice had **changed.** _

_It was as if the little girl had been in a trance was was suddenly jolted awake at the sound of it. It was much deeper, and chilled her right to the bone._

_It was a voice all too familiar to present day Julie._

_Julie suddenly looked down at herself, now in her correct age and from, having seemingly been woken up from a dream. _

_She could feel the tears running down her face upon reliving the nightmare of that night, but she forced herself to focus._

_She needed to figure out what the hell was going on._

_Taking in her surroundings she saw that she was in a large and dim room, hardly furnished, with cold marble covering the walls and floors. Her eyes, however, were immediately drawn to the only thing giving off light in the darkened room; a large globe._

_Thousands of little lights covered the surface, and Julie found herself frantically trying to get closer to the them, the darkness making her feel extremely uneasy._

_"I'm dreaming, I'm only dreaming," She told herself shakily, trying to calm her fearful emotions._

_**"Oh come now,"** The chilling voice chided from behind her, making her shriek in surprise. **"Must we always assume we are simply dreaming, Julie?"**_

_"Just stop it!"_ _Julie nearly screamed, moving her hands to cover her ears. "Leave me alone!"_

_A deep and evil laugh filled the dark room, echoing throughout, and seemingly wrapping around the frightened girl, trapping her._

_**"And why should I? Maybe I like following you..."** It purred in Julie's head, crushing her attempts to block it out._

_"Because you're not real!"_

_This caused all chucking to suddenly stop, creating a deafening silence around Julie, who bit her lip harshly to keep from crying._

_**"Turn around."** The voice demanded suddenly after a moment, a low growl laced within its calm intentions._

_Frightened to find out what would happen if she didn't obey, Julie slowly turned away from the illuminated globe, trembling, only to find a scream become caught in her throat upon what she saw._

_There was a person standing behind her._

_He was very tall, thin, and clothed in all black, making it seem as though he were melting into the shadows as he slowly stalked towards her. His skin was an ashen grey, resembling the color of death, while his eyes were a piercing gold. _

_The chilling voice perfectly matched the stranger's wicked and villainous appearance. _

_He was truly terrifying. _

_His movements were long and graceful as he continued to approach Julie, who's terrified eyes grew to the size of saucers._

_"W-who are you?" She asked nervously as she began to back away from the black clothed stranger. He flashed her a terrible grin, showing his white and pointy teeth._

_**"I am called many things, but you, my dear, may call me Pitch,"** He replied._

_Julie froze._

_"Pitch Black?" She asked after a moment. He seemed more than delighted at her choice of question._

_**"So you've heard of me?"** He hummed, his gold eyes flashing as he suddenly dissipated before her eyes. Julie jumped, horrified, before whirling around to find that he had suddenly reappeared right behind her as to where he cold easily grab her if he so desired. _

_She instantly moved backwards to create a distance between them only to find her back collide with the marble wall. _

_He seemed to pounce on the opportunity, moving at a blinding speed to pin her arms to her sides, holding her against the wall._

_Julie could feel her heart racing uncontrollably in her chest as she violently struggled to get free._

_"Let me go!" Julie spat, furious, as she writhed against the wall. He was **way** too close. She could feel the warmth radiating from his body while his iron grip seemed to crush her wrists._

_Pitch only snickered at her futile attempts to escape. _

_**"Are you going to make me?"** He breathed suggestively, his hands squeezing her wrists even harder, erupting a yelp from her lips, as if to prove a point._

_"I will if you don't stop messing with my head you bastard," Julie snapped, her fury overpowering her fear._

_**"I don't think I like this new attitude of yours,"** He suddenly snarled, scaring Julie's newly found courage into retreating to the back of her mind. _

_She couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face as she found no words to respond._

_**"That's right, my lovely,"** Pitch smirked arrogantly upon seeing her tears. **"Show me how scared you really are."**_

_Julie could feel her every limb quiver while she threw her head to the side, unable to look at the creature trapping her anymore. _

_She jumped, and let out a whimper as she felt his slender fingers gently stroke her long hair, letting the loose strands fall delicately about her face. She immediately tried moving her hand to push him away only to feel something cold wrap around her arm, continuing to keep her immobile._

_**"You're so soft. So breakable,"** He growled in her ear, making Julie cringe in disgust._

_"W-What do y-y-you want from m-me?" She whispered, unable to project her voice any louder. She could feel his grip lesson on her arms, allowing her to let out a sigh of relief._

_**"Your fear,"** He said simply. **"It's highly addictive."**_

_Julie's eyes widened. "What?" She breathed, her breathing becoming uneven. Pitch only answered with a deep laugh._

_**"I suppose I should send you back now,"** He said, flashing her yet another evil grin. **"We will meet again soon, my dear."**_

_Julie couldn't find the words to reply while she watched with fearful eyes as Pitch tauntingly moved his hand to the top of her head._

_Upon impact, Julie could feel her vision beginning to cloud, her thoughts becoming sluggish._

_**"And just remember,"** She faintly heard Pitch say before she lost consciousness._

**_"You're easily replaceable."_**

* * *

**So hopefully this wasn't too confusing moving from Julie's dream of "the incident' to...whatever you want to call what just happened. I tried to make this as clear as I could, so if it was too confusing, just let me know.**

**Other than that, what did you think? I normally don't go for a past like Julie's, but I figured SOMETHING bad must've happened to her in the past to have her be so fearful in her everyday life. **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**

**See you guys soon!**


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